Two Nights In Jersey: Ray Floriani's Photo Essay

The latest submission from our resident "Renaissance Man," who was on press row at the Prudential Center for Seton Hall last night just 24 hours removed from spending his Tuesday night courtside at the Yanitelli Center to take in Saint Peter's home opener:

Two nights in New Jersey. Not a Governor Christie commercial spot trumpeting the Garden State's commerce and ambience, but rather, it was the calling of the schedule maker.

Tuesday, it was Jersey City just off Kennedy Boulevard. Saint Peter's saw a lead dissipate late and went down to visiting Hampton. A night later, eight miles to the west, Seton Hall almost faced a similar fate. The Hall built a lead, lost it in the stretch, and regained it to edge Kent State.

Saint Peter's, with two tough losses, is now 0-2. Seton Hall is on the opposite side at 2-0. A common thread here is Kent State. The MAC representatives are Saint Peter's next assignment, and were the team Seton Hall survived against on Wednesday.

It is still early. Rather than obsess on a Kent State team that defeated Temple and gave the Hall fits, Saint Peter's coach John Dunne prefers to "just get better each day in practice." Seton Hall, in a better position, prefers to build on the early momentum as they go into their next contest.

Yes, it is early, but we have two teams just a few miles separated, who are already addressing issues from totally different directions.

The Hampton staff during a timeout:

Hampton is victorious over Saint Peter's:

Marvin Dominique (12 points) and coach John Dunne meet the media:

Coach Kevin Willard studies the action:

Official Andy Maira takes a timeout in the Seton Hall game...yours truly went to a few camps and worked with Andy, an officiating friend:

Seton Hall's "Flag Man" entertains:

Frequent visitors, Seton Hall shot 32-of-43 from the charity stripe. Here, Fuquan Edwin is a study in concentration: